CONCEPTUAL RELATIVITY - AN ARGUMENT AGAINST METAPHYSICAL REALISM

I will analyze in this article, one of the most important arguments against metaphysical realism: the conceptual relativity argument, proposed by the American philosopher Hilary Putnam. I will start from the way that the American philosopher conceives the metaphysical realism (also called externalist realism). According to Putnam, the metaphysical realists claim that there is a single world and a single correct perspective on it, and we have cognitive access to this unique reality independent of our minds. Putnam rejects this thesis. There can exist, in its view, complete theories of the world that are descriptive equivalent but are logically incompatible. It involves conceptual relativity and Putnam arguments that metaphysical realism is incompatible with conceptual relativity. I will analyze the argument and its philosophical implications.